During a recent Martial Arts Supershow Awards Banquet, Knoxville Academy of Martial Arts received the Century Gold Member Award for achievements. KAMA owner/instructor Robert Butturini is joined at the banquet by Allison Butturini, his wife, left, and Allison Oran, KAMA program director.

Knoxville Academy of Martial Arts in Farragut recently received international acclaim when it was featured in Martial Arts Success, an international martial arts magazine.

Century Martial Arts, KAMA’s supplier, has featured the school, 10951 Kingston Pike, in the magazine’s February issue for receiving the Century Gold Member Award.

“It was [Century’s] highest level of recognition through that company,” KAMA owner/master instructor Robert Butturini said.

Leon Rogers, vice president of Century Martial Arts, came out to visit KAMA’s location, Butturini said.

“They are a really big martial arts company,” he added. “[Rogers] heard our story [of how KAMA opened] as a new karate school and how we’ve grown organically in the community.

“He thought our story was a good one and wanted to feature it in Martial Arts Success magazine.”

Butturini thought KAMA received the award for its contributions to the community. ”We sponsor [activities] at a lot of [area] schools,” he said. “We do a lot of outreach, trying to help better our community through what we teach and how we work with our families.

“We try to work hand-in-hand with the parents,” Butturini added. “We want it to be a cooperative, joint effort to help raise these kids.”

KAMA offers American freestyle karate, kickboxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu classes, serving children as young as 18-months to adults.

“We just now started a Tot Time [class],” he said. “We are taking 18 months to 36 months. And then, our karate program starts at 36 months, 3 years old, and then all the way up [to adults].

“We just added jiu-jitsu classes,” Butturini

added. “It’s a great complement to martial arts because karate and kickboxing are all stand-up. You are learning how to defend yourself against an attacker who’s standing up. And, jiu-jitsu is on the ground, so if your attacker tried to take you to the ground or maybe you fell to the ground, in that situation, you are going to know what to do no matter where you are — standing up or on the ground,” he said. “So, the jiu-jitsu really makes our program well-rounded.”

The school has from 30 to 35 karate classes and 12 jiu-jitsu classes per week. It also offers morning cardio kickboxing sessions, a workout for anyone wanting to get into shape. In the evenings, KAMA offers the karate, kickboxing and self-defense classes, where students earn ranks.

Butturini opened his school April 1, 2011, but the company’s roots go back to the 1970s,

when he was part of his father’s business.

“I started helping with classes when I was around 12 years old, but I wasn’t a paid instructor until I was 15,” he stated in the magazine article.